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The Poppy & Poem Story
After WW I a poem emerged written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, who reportedly was inspired to write it after presiding over the funeral of his friend and fellow soldier 22-year-old Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem gives voice to those soldiers buried in the battlefield, pleading with survivors to take up the torch of their fight, and to remember them even though red poppies now cover the battlefield. The poem gained widespread notoriety after McCrae was convinced to submit it for publication, and it was translated into many languages and published around the world. When American professor Moina Michael read the poem, she was so moved by it that she wrote her own poem in response, "We Shall Keep the Faith," assuring that those dead and buried beneath fields of poppies that those still alive will take up the torch of their fight and "cherish the poppy red."